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Monday, November 23, 2015

Rod Meredith Whitewashes The Reason He Was Sent To Hawaii.

Here is Rod Meredith's take on his exile to Hawaii by Herbert Armstrong. It was NOT his fault! It was other men who wanted him gone.

It was not so much his rotten attitude or his mistreatment of members, but a bunch of pesky men who wanted him gone.

His god was so angry at all of those men that he has struck them all dead! Only God's most true servant is still alive.

Sometimes he lets human beings go off a little bit like he lets us humanly go off a little bit; even when we're converted we'll make mistakes for a while and then he'll jerk us up and we'll learn lessons from it. I know when I was sent to Hawaii in exile at one point I had to pray to God and literally fasted, twice a week for a while, asking God to deliver me, and about two or three weeks after I started that constant prayer and fasting – I'd already been studying and fasting a lot, but I intensified it – within about two or two and a half weeks a special, uh… [I] forget all the names of it, notarized, uh, he had to sign on it, Special Deliver Letter: Return Receipt Requested was sent me from Mr. Herbert Armstrong – he was kind of in his exile 'cause of his heart trouble, and other men were taking advantage of him and telling him lies – he sent it from me from Tucson telling me to go back to Pasadena and he appointed me to teach certain classes including the finishing class of the young people before they went into the field; the doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God. He said, "I have confidence that you will teach the right thing," and he brought me back and very soon after that put me back on the Council of Elders. Mr. Armstrong KNEW that something was up; God revealed to him what was happening, then he brought me back without even letting them know. I was back on campus before they could stop it; before they could go to him and try to argue with him. He brought me back and I was there before they even knew about it. Several times in my life, brethren, God has rescued me even when it looked like a judgment was wrong for a while, and God allowed me to have a time out there to study, to pray, to examine myself if [I was] that bad; no, I learned certain lessons. I learned to trust in God no matter what. And sometimes you will have to learn trust in God no matter what, but in the end God will deliver you. I've seen several times, without naming names, where some of these men that did that then, and others, were wishing that I was kicked out of the Church, or I was dead. They're all dead. I'm not rejoicing that, I'm just saying that God took care of it; it's kind of interesting how those things work. "He that digs a pit will fall into it." So if you're taken advantage of, if you put your faith and trust in God and you feel you've been wronged, pry it out to God; fast and pray and God will turn it around. But in the meantime you should try to learn every single lesson you can if you're corrected by the ministry. And I did do that, I said, "God, show me whatever." I prayed and beseeched God to help me do better. And I came back and I did do better, not that I'd ever been turned on Mr. Armstrong; never been disloyal I could just tell you that, PERIOD! But I had been too pushy and maybe talked too much in certain ways, and I was more careful, and God helped me learn lessons from that. It was those lessons that are still blazed in my brain; it was good for me, it was good for everyone concerned. But God turned it around – they didn't turn it around – God turned it around in a way that those men could never have foreseen. He will take care of it! God will guide you in the judgment and if God allows a human or a group of humans to make a wrong
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decision, Christ is the head of the Church; HE will turn it around, he will cause it to work out good – you may have to be patient for a while. (From his August 2015 Sermon)

Contrast that to Herbert Armstrong's letter to Rod Meredith while he was exiled to Hawaii.

LETTER FROM HWA TO RCM:

WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD WORLD HEADQUARTERS

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA91123

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
Tucson,
March 14, 1980
President and Pastor

Dear Rod:

Your letters of February 1 and March 7 show, I am sorry to say, that
either you still cannot understand WHY the living Head of God's Church, Jesus
Christ, had you sent to Hawaii, or you are unwilling to see or admit —
and I prefer to believe the former.

There is no point in telling you this letter is written in LOVE for YOU
— for you ought to know that without my saying it. But out of love for
you, and DESIRE to see you back as PART OF GOD'S TEAM, working in full
co-operation and right attitude with the rest o[f] us; I shall take time and
space to make it clear once for all this time.

I have tried to hold the mirror up for you to see yourself as others see
you. But still you don't see in that mirror the same YOU that others see-or
are unwilling — I hope not the latter. But now I must be SURE! I shall
speak plainly, candidly. If this letter hurts, I quote from a letter the
Apostle Paul sent to brethren at Corinth: "For though I made you angry
with a letter, I do not repent... for I perceive that the same epistle hath
made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye
were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance, for ye were made sorry
after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

"For godly sorry worketh repentance to salvation ... but the sorrow
of the world worketh death." (II Cor. 7:8-10).

Now I'm going to come with plainness of speech as Paul said — in I
Corinthians 2.

To overseas audiences, and to Kings, Emperors, Presidents and Prime
Ministers, I simmer down the WAY OF GOD and the WAY OF THE WORLD in two very
small words — "GET" and "GIVE." This world is
geared to the way of "GET." That is the way of VANITY,
SELF-centeredness, coveting, lust and greed, jealousy and envy, rebellion
against authority, competition which leads to strife, violence and war. The
way of "GIVE" is OUT-flowing LOVE, harmonious co-operation,
serving, helping, sharing, giving.

In spiritual PRINCIPLE, the latter is the way of God's Law, the Ten
Commandments-the former the way of Satan. I tell them that ALL the Unsolvable
problems, troubles and evils in the world are caused by the fact the world
lives by the "GET" principle.

Rod, WHY have so many who have worked [with you] said that you rub the fur the wrong way?
You are DOCTRINALLY correct, But in II Corinthians Paul says we are not to live
by the strict letter of the Law, but by the SPIRIT or obvious INTENT — the
basic PRINCIPLE of it (II Cor. 3:6).
You are a model of doctrinal correctness
according to the LETTER — the strictness of the letter — but you do overlook
the SPIRIT from the heart. You won the mile in a state high-school meet,
You had know[n,] as Satan injects into us all from childhood, the spirit of
competition. You b[e]came a COMPETITOR. In conversion you learned and accepted
the strictness of the letter of God's Commandments. You wrote a good booklet on
the Ten Commandments. But now I hold the mirror up for you to see in yourself
what SO MANY who know you wIll see in you — the SPIRIT of COMPETITION is still
there!

You are not going to like this, Rod. Members of your family will resent it. But
I am the chosen apostle of Jesus Christ and in His name, I have to say these
things to you, for I want to have you with us IN GOD'S KINGDOM — and there will
be no contentions — no spirit of competition there! No one is going to be there
who strives for himself to take over the CHIEF SEAT!

Jesus Christ through me elevated you to the chief seat (which you had come to
me suggesting over the ministry of God's Church in what we then called CAD, you were a harsh task-master over
the ministers. You, yourself, find it difficult and perhaps impossible to TAKE
what you dished out. Dozens of ministers would testify to that. You rubbed the
fur the wrong way! That has been your life-style!

When you were made second Vice President, it became a standing joke among
leaders at Pasadena, the saying, "Well, after all, I am the second Vice
President."

Jesus said, "And whosoever of you will be chiefest, shall be servant
of all. For even th[e] Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister" (Mark 10:44-45). Jesus said further, "Beware of the
scribes which wear long robes, ...and [love] the highest seats in the
synagogue, and the chief rooms (offices-ranks-positions), at feasts"
(Luke 20:46). Rod, am I qualified to call to your attention, these things? I
came into the ministry more than fifty years ago, back in Oregon. I was never
a member of the Church of God, Seventh Day, headquartered at Stanberry, Missouri.
The church of Dugger and Dodd at Salem, W. Virginia, was an off-shoot, and,
like Ted's present "church". Ray Cole's, and other's, NOT the true Church
of God. However, I never became a member of the Salem offshoot. Half of the Oregon
brethren (while all were in Stanberry) had incorporated as a separate church,
"The Oregon Conference." I was ordained by them. Twice I was paid
by them-about four months at $20 a week, and 15 mon[n]ths later, from
February to July, 1933, at $3 per week.

But I did CO-OPERATE with the Stanberry people, from 1927 until ordained
by the Oregon Conference, June, 1931-without salary, I co-operated with the
Salem people after the start of the present Worldwide Church Of God (then
called the Radio Church of God), and WITHOUT RECEIVING FROM THEM A PENNY OF
FINANCIAL SUPPORT in any way, from 1934 (after both the World [T]omorrow
radio program was going, and The PLAIN TRUTH was being published) until
August, 1937. And after that, while building the present Church of God, Philadelphia
era, I co-operated at my own expense with the Stanberry (Sardis era) people
until October, 1945.

I DID NOT, as Ted claims (he was 5 years old when I ceased the co-operation
with them because of the pressure of the Work in the present Church of God).
I did not leave them to start something of my own. I continued working with
them-GIVING, not getting-at my own exp[e]nse co-operating — GIVING
— as long as my time allowed.

But the point I want to make is this: I SERVED — I HELPED — I
co-operated. And I did not have or seek any high position. I always
considered myself, just as the Sardis ministers did, that I was the LEAST of
the ministers-the TAIL-ENDER!

When I conducted the campaign in the Firbute school house (36 seats) in
1933, I stopped receiving even the $3 per week salary from the Oregon
Conference.

As the tail-end LEAST of the ministers, Christ started me in that little
36-seat school house, I constantly suffered persecution-first from Stanberry
ministers, then again from Salem, W. Va.-ministers, then again from
Stanberry. The 19 members we had from that Firbutte campaign was the START of
the present Worldwide Church of God. The brethren at the start were my own
converts-my own children in the Lord. NEVER in all my ministerial experience,
I once sought a higher position.

Jesus Christ gave me the Pastor position at the start. The Church grew, as
I held other campaigns in Eugen[e] and in Alvadore. Finally I appointed and ordained
two other elders, one a preaching elder and one a local elder, at Eugene,
beside two deacons. In those early years of this, our present Church, I
served as pastor of a Stanberry church near Jefferson, Oregon. There I
appoin[t]ed and ordained two elders, and two deacons — for THEIR
church. All the time I "GAVE" — I did not "GET."
Before that I had learned how Paul says, in II Corinthians 3:6, that we must
obey the SPIRIT or obvious INTENT of the Law, not the letter. I had dedicated
my life to "GIVE" and not to "GET." As the Work grew,
Christ used me in founding Ambassador College. After their graduation I
ordained m[y] son Dick, Raymond Cole, Herman Hoeh, Raymon[d] Mc Nair and his
brother. From there you know the history, Your uncle and yourself came along
about next, then others. I ne[v]er sought or moved up to a higher rank or
office. Jesus Christ raised up the Church through me. I came to the position
I hold as the simple result of what the living Head of this Church raised up
through me.

But others have sought higher Position. There has been, it seems, NO END
of worldly POLITICS at Pasadena Headquarters. As Christ blessed and prospered
God's Church and Work, and we came to have better than $100,000,000 of net
worth, and a near $80 million a year income, there devel[o]ped a mad scramble
for ever higher and higher rank. Sure, I made some mistakes. I naively
TRUSTED men like Al Portune, David Antion, my own son, Wayne Cole, many
others no longer with us. But now, f[o]r the first time since about 1967, there
is HARMONY and a spirit of Co-oper[a]tion at Pasadena. AND I AM DETERMINED TO
KEEP IT THAT WAY!

Now back to you.

You have demonstrated, as seen clearly by many others, a spirit of
rank-consciousness. In plain language that is coveting higher authority. I do
not think you have coveted more money. I do not think more money is what Ted,
Al Portune, Dave Antion, Ray Cole, Wayne or others really coveted. They
coveted POWER — more authority — like a 15-year old boy coveting
the POWER of a steering wheel and a throttle. We have gone through a House
CLEANING. We now have PEACE and CO-OPERATION at Pasadena. And eight to ten
others on the executive level there have voiced to me their fears and
convictions that if you now come back to Pasadena, that PEACE, and HARMONY,
and CO-OPERATION will be turned once again into constant contention,
irritation, and HARM TO GOD'S WORK! I do not like to tell you this. I haven't
mentioned this to all, but to those I mentioned your return, that is the
unanimous feeling.

If I have you come back as Dean of the Faculty, several say you would
delegate most or the real duties of the Dean, and devote yourself to trying
to make yourself the LEADER and boss of the College, and even of the
Chur[ch.] You have — and all are aware of it — been possessed
with the idea that I will not live much longer, and that YOU are the
"FIRST among equals" to take my place.

Rod, in
frankest candor, JESUS CHRIST will NEVER put any one at the head of His Work on
earth who is competitive, covetous of power and status, and self-righteous.
In brutal frankness, you lack the charisma to lead God's work You do not
attract-as I said before, you REP[EL-] people. You are a harsh taskmaster over those under you. THAT
IS YOUR RECORD!

When I wr[o]te you [] that a change of ATTITUDE is
needed, perhaps I have at last made myself clear.

You have said that you only said a few statements you probably should not
have made, but you didn't think you had said enough to warrant this six
months' leave of absence. Rod, I'm very well aware of the amount of words you
said against Christ's chosen apostle. But Jesus said, "of the abundance
of the heart (attitude) the mouth speaketh." What you did say, affirmed
to me by two witnesses, was sufficient, coupled with many other things, to
show me the [a]ttitude back of those words. You try to c[o]nvince me of how
glowingly and how numerous were the times you have shown loyalty by the
things you have said "hundreds" or "thousands of times".
But in this regard your attitude reflected [] OMISSION
rather than the sparse and sparing things you did say. Ted was leading a
conspiracy to destroy my credibility before the ministers and the brethren by
saying nothing about me — as if the human leader did not exist —
and blowing himself up. Radio and TV programs went under his name-no longer
The World [T}omorrow. He even started correspondence under HIS OWN [Letter
head] NAME, rather than that of the Church or College. Now I do not want any
of our ministers flattering me, or trying to see how often they can mention
my name.

But neither do I want it deliberately AVOIDED in both speaking and
writing, as if I did not exist. Jesus Christ — NOT MAN — has made
me the human leader under Christ. A leader cannot be a leader if all under
him IGNORE his very existence. I never did want anyone to go out of his way
deliberately to mention me — as you profess to have done. That is not
what I mean. But I do not want the other extreme, caused by a competitive
feeling, and deliberate non-mention.

Now another thing you cover in your letters. You imply that in what few
things you did say, you were FOLLOWING MY ORDERS. Rod, that is hypocrisy. It
is not a matter that I CHANGED MY MIND. Let me tell you how it [ac]tually
was. When I told you and Raymond, and perhaps another or two, that IF I were
no longer among the living, I wanted you to be su[re] Ted did not slip in and
take over. At that time, I had heard SO MUCH talk about my dying right away,
perhaps started by Ted, that for a while I was overly conscious of it.

It is not that later I changed my mind. But as time went on I began to
realize very deeply that God has not prepared ANYONE to take my place. You,
Rod, could never take it. I know that is 100% contrary to your own estimate
of yourse[l]f. You have a WILL to lead, but not the qualifications. I came to
realize that God raise[d] me [from the dead-f]rom total heart failure-in
August, 1977, FOR A PURPOSE.

I have felt like the Apostle Paul, when he said earlier in life it would
be more profitable for him to depart this life — and in the next
split-second of consciousness, be with Christ in the resurrection, but it was
more needful that he stay.

I did not CHANGE my mind. I did come to realize, as God caused me to realize,
that He had raised me up as His instrument to raise up His present Church and
Work — and that Work is not finished. So after my heart had completely
stopped, my breath — no pulse — no blood-pressure — by
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation I was br[o]ught back. I have not said I now
believe God will keep me alive until Christ comes. I have said and I say now
again, I do believe He will keep me alive AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME!

You have taken the attitude that "some one GOT [you]." No one
did but your own self.

I have tried here to make clear what I mean by a CHANGE OF ATTITUDE. I
sincerely hope you "get the message" this time. Self-pity is not
your need. A change of ATTITUDE from "GET" to "GIVE" is!
If this letter does not get through to you, I shall not try again. So far you
have not admitted a wrong attitude. Your RIGHTEOUSNESS you have maintained!
But it has been only so much "filthy rags" to GOD! God said-rather,
Christ to His disciples, that he who would seek the top seat should be the
SERVANT of all. We should be as a little child.

So far, four months or more of your leave of absence has profited you NOTHING!
Rod, in a candor, HAVE YOU EVER REALY REPENTED? To repent means much more than
being sorry, or remorseful. It means a CHANGE OF HEART — a CHANGE OF ATTITUDE —
a CHANGE FROM "GET" TO "GIVE." From competition, vanity,
coveting power and position, to harmonious co-operation. BELIEVE ME, there is
PEACE, and HARMONY at Pasadena now. Our men there do not want it disturbed. I
have held up the mirror with BRUTAL frankness-in LOVE not only for you but also
for GOD'S WORK! The Work is
getting along wonderfully well now-without you. It can go on growing and
pleasing Jesus Chris[t] an[d] prospering under His blessing WITHOUT YOU.
I have written you are not coming back until I am CONVINCED BY THE FRUITS of a
real REPENTANCE, and CHANGE OF ATTITUDE. I hope at last I have MADE IT PLAIN.
In deep LOVE as a father to a son,
In Jesus' name.

Some have claimed that HWA was hood winked by Stan Rader and others into writing this letter and did not mean to send Meredith to Hawaii.

If you remember from above, Rod Meredith blames his exile on various men at Pasadena HQ, one of which was Stan Rader.

Aaron Dean weighed in on this in the late 1990's and says that Rod Meredith is not being truthful in his excuses.

That
is the letter that was in Mr. Armstrong's files. HWA did talk to not only RCM
[Roderick C. Meredith], but others about how he was wrong about Stan [Rader].
Mr. A didn't apologize to people, and had other ways of
apologizing—some of which could be misinterpreted. His discussion with
Rod about SRR [Stanley R. Rader], I imagine Rod took to be an apology. Of
course he wanted to see it this way. To RCM it seemed either he was right or
SRR was right. Since SRR turned out to be a 'bad guy' RCM assumed he was
vindicated. This helps to justify why he maintains he should be in charge. He
never understood the issue was not about him and SRR, but him seeing himself
as next in line.

It
did not change RCM's problem, as you can see from the letter RCM's problems
stemmed from well before SRR. The fact that HWA never reappointed RCM to a
position of power shows that he knew RCM still had the problem. The COE
[Council of Elders] was never a power body, although many seemed to see it as
that.

RCM
took the fact that those he disliked (and it is interesting to note they were
always the ones between him and the top) turned out to have problems, so it
seemed a vindication of his problem. Mr. Armstrong still felt the same way
about RCM up until his death.

One
thing HWA did say, was that "Rod will be personally loyal to me"
(HWA). Of course RCM wanted that same loyalty to himself, never realizing
that what HWA really wanted was loyalty to GOD. That is why HWA, amid the
confusion of the receivership did appoint RCM over Church Administration in
'79.

Unfortunately
RCM began immediately to try to solidify his position as heir to the church,
and had to be removed within the year, and was never reappointed to a high
administrative position. It was RCM's own words that caused him to be sent to
Hawaii, not anyone else. I pray
that he eventually can come to see himself, just as I pray for so many other
self appointed leaders.

33 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Rod says he fasted a lot, but why? For self! Is that why one fasts to God?

God said: "...I had to pray to God and literally fasted, twice a week for a while, asking God to deliver me, and about two or three weeks after I started that constant prayer and fasting – I'd already been studying and fasting a lot, but I intensified it..."

It is all about self, himself. God does not want to hear it. He didn't want to hear it from Rod! That kind of a fast is unacceptable to God. How do we know? Because the Bible tells us so:

"Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high."

Rod was striving to make his "voice to be heard on high," and God tells us not to do that, because it is unacceptable.

Jesus Christ did an acceptable fast to God, but what is that like? Rod could learn from these words:

:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Rod needs to study these words before he ever fasts again and apply them to himself and how he deals with others, but that isn't all. There is more!

:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

Rod needs to evaluate how his life is involved with the yokes of putting forth of the finger.......and speaking vanity! Fasting isn't just about self and making one's voice to be heard on high.

If Rod can "clean up his own act," then he might experience some of the following:

:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Rod (who left his ministerial credentials behind with the WCG), and any who have followed his example of fasting, may want to consider what God inspired Isaiah to tell us about fasting. After all, why waste our time fasting for self, when God already knows it is unacceptable...

Unfortunately it is a tendency of human nature for all of us to whitewash ourselves, especially when our credibility is on the line.

Since the LCG members seem to be conducting the debate that they can't have after their own sabbath services right here nstead, at least they have 3 separate testimonies to digest as they consider whether RCM embodies the type of authority to which they should continue to submit.

I had read the HWA letter several times in the past, and it seemed obvious from the content that it was not only written for the benefit of Rod himself. It had the aura of a demonstration to other top ministers that HWA was handling a problem that they had found irksome. Surely they must have received their own copies. So much for clergy confidentiality!

By the way, this problem, like GTA's problem, became way worse than it ever needed to be, beause HWA allowed it to go uncorrected for far too long. It is indicative of a flaw in HWA's management style.

I don't know if Rod is still harping on his exile to Hawaii or not. But that was over 35 years ago give it a rest. I was there at the time and there was a lot of back stabbing going on. There might have been some trying to get Rod but Rod did have a reputation of being hard, proud, and thinking he was above the others. I focus on how LCG is today. Rod has not changed, he has to bring up the past over and over. He is obsessed with being in charge I am so glad I don't have to put up with that anymore

Rod Meredith brought this up in his sermon in August of this year! I sat there and listened to it. He blatantly LIED in the version he gave to LCG members. He is unfit to be leading any church. HWA saw that and that was the reason he was shipped out, not because Rader or anyone else was out to get him. Armstrong knew he was unfit to lead then just as he is unfit now.

I have no axe to grind but I do express my appreciation for what 'John' has said and the way he has put it all together. Also, in addition to that, he has used scriptural references to support his theme, others could take note, presenting a very polished, clear and acceptable comment

HWA shaped the RCM Frankenstein monster. The infamous letter shows that HWA knew how demented RCM was in earlier days and encouraged him to continue in his carnage. Knowing all that is written about RCM in this letter, the only responsible thing HWA could have done was permanently remove RCM from the ministry. But, that would have required HWA to be a good shepherd of the flock. Exiling RCM and publicly shaming him, via leaking this letter, served to make RCM more grotesquely vindictive. Thanks HWA! RCM’s vanity, evil ass nature, and ensuing decades, caused him to grow from Frankenstein into his current Pagliacci role.

"I have no axe to grind but I do express my appreciation for what 'John' has said and the way he has put it all together. Also, in addition to that, he has used scriptural references to support his theme, others could take note, presenting a very polished, clear and acceptable comment."

Hmm. Ralph doesn't have an axe to grind? Is he sure about that?

But he's right, I really shouldn't be commenting without using scriptural references to support my statements. Which is why, in the future, I will be quoting from the Qur'an and the Vedas, among others. Then, hopefully, my comments will meet with his approval.

I still feel sad that my dad when he was an elderly man got thrown out of 'Gods true church' for having a messy house. The message was that a Christian wouldn't live like that. Really it wasn't that bad. When he died and I went thru his stuff he had kept letters from various ministers in 'Gods true church' discussing whether he had repented or had Gods spirit.

I'm waiting for the RCM/LCG zealots to chime in on this topic. I've heard RCM in his sermons thank people for their loyalty. It always seems to be for their loyalty to him or the ministry/LCG. I can't recall him thanking people for their loyalty to God. Loyalty to man is big with him, as you can see from the LCG COE and the others he has surrounded himself with in Charlotte. Are the people who followed him out of WCG/GCG only loyal to the man?

note he says he fasted, but he never confessesses to any specific wrong doing; he resorts to the blame it on eve argument; and frankly the man needs to be very careful how he uses the "their all dead" argument considering the very obvious and ironic tragedies that have happened in his life, and how they pertain DIRECTLY to his callous attitude towards lay people in regards to faith healing...

Anonymous 11:35 AM said, "I still feel sad that my dad when he was an elderly man got thrown out of 'Gods true church' for having a messy house".

MY COMMENT - That is horrible. Typical WCG/ACOG judgmental attitude. I am sure the young Ambassador College educated idiot minister is clueless how difficult it is for the elderly on fixed incomes to maintain their houses as they age. Of course, double tithing plus all the other offerings hounded by WCG under threat of eternal damnation before food and clothing needs doesn't leave much money left to deal with the "messy house".

Actually, I would call this act by "God's true Church" an act of "Elder Abuse".

Very sad that someone who probably had a gentle, docile spirit would be put out of a church for a messy (and this is a very subjective judgment) house.

Probably the biggest mistake ACOG members made was allowing these cretins who called themselves "God's ministers" to invade their personal space. People laugh now about old stories regarding ministers coming into members' homes and checking the cabinets for white flour and white sugar, but this messy house outrage is evidence that the same invasiveness continues to this day. We also know that the spiritual bastards asked deep, embarrassingly personal questions regarding peoples' sex lives, bringing out sins that were repented of and forgiven years ago.

Now that we know that these scam-meisters who called themselves ministers were in reality nothing, wouldn't it have been nice to have demanded that they leave our homes, and to have expressed a certain amount of righteous outrage at their impertinence and presumptuousness? Obviously, a Christian would need to do this in a right attitude, even though it might have been more satisfying on a personal level to simply say "Take your church and shove it, Mofo!"

Great point on "loyalty". "God values loyalty. God expects loyalty. Are you disloyal? God hates that." Even the lower ministry preaches this. It is never outright stated, but the intent is clearly to foster loyalty to RCM and LCG. You would be disloyal if you left. Meredith is a genius at propaganda. He has to resort to propaganda; he has little faith in God to bring people to the church as God sees fit.

"By the way, this problem, like GTA's problem, became way worse than it ever needed to be, beause HWA allowed it to go uncorrected for far too long. It is indicative of a flaw in HWA's management style."

Huh? So are you saying HWA should have yanked RCM up and thrown him under the bus rather than hold the mirror up for him in a less authoritarian way of helping him see what others were seeing? On the one hand, HWA is damned because he was a tyrant who was known to kick people out without a hearing; on the other hand, HWA is damned because he didn't act quickly enough. Maybe the situation was a little more complex than we Monday-morning quarterbacks can see.

I am so sorry I didn't research Rod Meredith before I ignorantly joined his church. If I had, I would have avoided so much pain, confusion and heartache.

I'm not even sure this information was on the web back in those days.

I'm glad it is open to the public now and I pray it will help others make a more informed decision than I did.

I sincerely hope that that others will read this and come to know what kind of monster Meredith is and how utterly corrupt his organization is.

I believe in keeping the Sabbath, the Commandments, the Holy Days and God's laws to this day. I consider myself blessed in that regard (although I'm sure many on this blog would not agree).

I often wonder how many people for which Rod Meredith is personally responsible for turning away from the truth as a result of his vindictive mean spirit, his lust for power and control, his favoritism, entitlement, nepotism, greed, inability to admit wrong doing, tyranny, grudge-holding, angry, hate-filled, carnal personality.

anon november 25, 2015 at 7:19 am, those are pretty stunning comments: i couldnt have said it better; i hope people will get something from it...

but despite the certain specific flaws of lcg, some people need to be a part of an organization to maintain spiritual stability; i was not one of them, and you seem to also be similar in that way to myself, or i to you, but there is such a concept as the need for some to be within the body...

unfortunately the body is often administered by the carnal minded; yet we should not allow their sins to remove our Crowns: soon enough the tares will be removed...

Stepping back, it seems that Armstrong used RM as a battle axe to keep the troops in line. But Rod went too fat so Armstrong had to reign him in, but only some. Otherwise why not simply fire him rather than send him to a holiday destination.But the curious question remains as to why people join a church with such a flawed leader, when better alternatives are available. My sad conclusion, it's what church members secretly want. They hope their leaders evilness will be turned on their betters, satisfying their Cain versus Abel feelings. People in the church always warm up to twisted members, and are hostile to the responsible. That's the voice of experience of many years in Gods church.

I think the answer to "why people join a church with such a flawed leader" (LCG) is primarily two-fold.

One, they feel LCG is "doing the work more powerfully" than any other group so they are willing to overlook how horrible the overlords behave.

Two, they are too ignorant to know RCM's history before pledging allegiance to LCG and then too cowardice to walk away from all their friends (and in some cases family) once they realize how toxic LCG truly is.

Tagging on to those last two comments, if people are capable of anthropomorphism, they can certainly use their own mental devices to create the church they are attending in their own falsely idealistic image.

To those who think LCG is "doing the work more powerfully" than any other group, you have been brainwashed by Rod Meredith into thinking that preaching the gospel is the work. It is only a small, preliminary step in the work of God. It is not even mentioned in Matthew 28's Great Commission, and is preliminary to a much greater goal in Mark's.

RCM preaches this propaganda for the sole reason of keeping people from leaving. That, and "We are the only ones practicing God's government."

Rod Meredith is indeed a master propagandist. "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." (Joseph Goebbels) The thing that amazes all of us who used to be part of LCG is how clear it is once you leave. We shake our heads at the blind naivete of the people Meredith has duped. And how willing they are to be duped by him.